One day after Sinclair announced they would not be airing the return of Jimmy Kimmel Live! Nexstar — one of the largest station owners — revealed they would be pre-empting the talk show.
“[Nexstar] today announced that the company’s owned and partner television stations affiliated with the ABC Television Network will continue to preempt Jimmy Kimmel Live!” the company said. “We made a decision last week to preempt Jimmy Kimmel Live! following what ABC referred to as Mr. Kimmel’s ‘ill-timed and insensitive’ comments at a critical time in our national discourse.”
They continued, “We stand by that decision pending assurance that all parties are committed to fostering an environment of respectful, constructive dialogue in the markets we serve.”
ABC announced last week that they had pulled Jimmy Kimmel Live! from the air indefinitely after pressure from the FCC and station owners. However, after less than a week, they reached an agreement with the late-night host and revealed Jimmy Kimmel Live! would return Tuesday night.
Nexstar Will Not Air the ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ Return
Nexstar owns dozens of ABC affiliate stations nationwide and will restrict viewers from watching the show’s return.
These cities and regions will be affected by the decision:
- Nashville, Tennessee
- Salt Lake City, Utah
- Hartford/New Haven, Connecticut
- Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
- Grand Rapids, Michigan
- New Orleans, Louisiana
- Richmond, Virginia
- Knoxville, Tennessee
- Albany, New York
- Syracuse, New York
- Burlington, Vermont
- Tri-Cities, Tennessee/West Virginia
- Augusta, Georgia
- Evansville, Indiana
- Lansing, Michigan
- Youngstown, Ohio
- Rockford, Illinois
- Lubbock, Texas
- Topeka, Kansas
- Midland/Odessa, Texas
- Panama City, Florida
- Sioux City, Iowa
- Joplin, Missouri
- Erie, Pennsylvania
- Terre Haute, Indiana
- Binghamton, New York
- Wheeling, West Virginia – Steubenville, Ohio
- Dothan, Alabama
- Utica, New York
- Clarksburg/Weston, West Virginia
- Watertown, New York
“In the meantime, we note that Jimmy Kimmel Live! will be available nationwide on multiple Disney-owned streaming products, while our stations will focus on continuing to produce local news and other programming relevant to their respective markets,” Nexstar added.
